Blog

We haven’t written a blog for a while now but with some amazing news to tell you all, we thought it an opportune time…but let us tell you more before we divulge all!

At the start of the year you’ll remember we realized it was the time to purchase a Wheelchair Adapted and Accessible Vehicle (WAV) for Harrison. With him getting older and too heavy and awkward for us to lift in and out of the car every time, and him finding the whole process a nightmare as well, it was simply becoming essential.

So as his parents, we decided to start fund raising by entering a Tough Mudder event, hoping to raise an amount that would contribute towards the overall cost of the WAV because they really don’t come cheap, certainly not the type and size we felt we needed and would be suitable for both Harrison's needs but to also accommodate ours as a family. We set £5,000 as a target, not knowing if we could achieve it but we had to start somewhere.

We really didn’t know where to start or what we needed though and soon realised there were so many other options to think about compared to buying a normal car. Normal decisions might just be about the make, colour and engine size for example and you can then get exactly what you want if buying new but nowadays with the likes of AutoTrader and with so many used cars available, this is also tends to be true even when buying 2nd hand, saving money of course.

The options we were having to consider, however, were based around the adaption and accessibility for Harrison and his chair…such as whether the lift should be at the side or the back, whether the floor should be lowered or not, how the chair would be secured and so on. These weren’t made any easier since there were pros and cons for all them, and we just didn’t know the answers…we were going round in circles on what would be best and with having no experience on any of it!

We found some companies that specialised in WAV adaptions and they started to help us but they only provided brand new vehicles and these would cost in excess of £40,000, so certainly more than the £5,000 we initially set out to raise!

So we realised we would need to buy 2nd hand. Yet after now answering some of the questions we had about the adaption and our requirements, we discovered that there is only ever a hand full of suitable used WAVs on the market at any time…and they can still be really expensive.

To save money we even looked into the option of buying one of the demonstrator models one of the companies brought to show us but as with all demos, it was a bit tatty and just wasn’t quite right and would’ve still cost over £25,000!!! Spending that sort of money still and not being happy with what we’d got was not what this was all about.

So as you can see it was a difficult process, trying to ensure all the important boxes were ticked and that we were wisely spending the money that you have all kindly raised, obtaining a vehicle that would last us for many years rather than buying something that wasn’t quire right or might cause us lots of problems.

But a couple of weeks ago we did another quick search online as we hadn’t for a while. Almost straight away we found something that seemed to tick all the boxes. As soon as we saw it and how it was adapted, and bearing in mind all our previous investigating, we were in a position to knew it was just what we were after. So 11 months after starting the process all of a sudden……

……..WE’VE FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO GET A WAV FOR HARRISON!!!!!!

We got it last Monday and you should have seen Harrison’s face when he saw it. He was so excited and was bouncing about so much he about he nearly fell out of his wheelchair; he clearly knew what it meant straight away.

So with all your help we reached our £5,000 target and more. Whether its by donating, bidding on an item or getting others to sponsor you running, walking, climbing through mud and ice, cycling, iron manning, swimming or getting electrocuted for Harrison, we want to thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts as we now have the WAV that we need to get out and about as a family and to make Harrison’s life easier. Its made an incredible difference already, only after having it for one week!

But as you might imagine, things don’t stop here. With the Trust Fund actually set up to help him continuously and into adulthood, there are always things he’ll need now and in the future.

You only have to think about the £3,000 we’ve needed to buy his power wheelchair with the head steering system as well this year…or the £1,500 for a bigger tricycle so he join his older brother Reece on our walks (which he’ll be getting for Xmas so watch this space) to demonstrate this…and next it will be a new sleeping system to help him sleep and various communication aids for example.

But for now and with all your incredible help, we’ve actually achieved what we set out to this year, which is just amazing and we just can’t thank you all enough.